During its regular Board of Directors meeting, HART revealed the results of the agency's first customer satisfaction survey as part of the "Voice of the Customer Scorecard," an initiative designed to gather data which will be used to better understand its customers' opinions of existing service and areas of priority that need improvement.
"The customer satisfaction survey results are driving the agency's understanding of what really matters to customers, enabling us to better respond to their needs and demands," said HART chief financial officer Jeff Seward. "While these results show that overall we're moving in the right direction, we need to continue to work to make meaningful changes and improvements that increase customer satisfaction."
TransPro conducted two "waves" of surveys in 2015, one in August, the second in December, speaking to a total of 1,038 customers.
"The commitment of HART to truly understand the quality of the customer experience speaks volumes to transparency," said TransPro Consulting CEO Mark Aesch. "The fact that customer satisfaction levels are so strong and the customer base is so loyal is borne out by nearly 45 percent of customers have found that the quality of their experience has improved within the past year."
80 percent of customers expressed overall satisfaction with HART service, meanwhile the percentage of customers who felt that the agency's service had improved over the past year increased by 21 percent in wave two of the surveys. Regarding customer loyalty, approximately 77 percent of the riders surveyed in December identified themselves as riding five days a week, which is higher than the industry standard.
In addition, customers have identified some improvement in customer service relations as one of the significant areas HART needs to improve, according to feedback gathered from the surveys 52 percent of riders indicated that when they contacted HART customer service, their calls were promptly returned.
HART will continue to conduct these surveys on a regular, ongoing basis to target specific improvements needed to boost customer satisfaction.
